The Elder Scrolls Online

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

Dahkoht_sl said:
One thing I wonder and I think a reasonable question for any mmo , is would it survive without the IP?

In other words , are the mechanics and gameplay good enough to attract/keep enough people without the name of whatever be it, Elder Scrolls/Star Wars and so on.

The Secret World did fairly well and is still turning a lot of money for Funcom. It's almost better to not have an IP to stay within the boundaries of, as it gives you more creative freedom. Wildstar is something that I have not played yet, but could do what you have said as well.

Now a good IP helps obviously, but if the IP is required to sustain the game, I think that's a sign of a terrible game.

Depends on how it is marketed in my opinion. In the case of this game, and the confusion of messaging and lack of marketing (and after I have played it off and on for 5 months) it is obvious to anyone in the closed F&F or Beta that it is one giant smoke screen to sell boxes based off the IP. It's the only thing that will save the money sunken into it. Box sales.

So, if the Elder Scrolls Online was Generic Fantasy Name Online , would it stand a chance ?

It isn't going to stand a chance as an Elder Scrolls IP, but will sell enough boxes and fool enough people into thinking it's a sequel to Skyrim that they will install enough of a user base in the hopes even a 50k attach rate to the PvP aspects for their free to play conversion planned for the October time frame. Problem is the people in charge do not have the creativity to drive anything but, and some of the awesome talent that comprises UNDER the folks of Sage, don't get a chance to do anything because of drive down.

The result is those good folks hopefully being able to latch on to something later if they don't literally go insane waiting for the thing to ship so they can get the fuck out of Zenimax Online.

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

Blackwulf_sl said:
At least, after this weekend, more people will have informed opinions.

Informed opinions of fucking what? It's a level 1-17 7 passed content hype demo. They better at least have a mediocre time. AOC had a great starter area too. This is the type of shit I am talking about. Informed opinions of a game based on a level 1-7 demo in which you see about 10% of the game which has been worked on for 3 years while the other shit will be mass produced in 5 months?

Fuck man.

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

Faltigoth_sl said:
I wonder if part of the problem is that there hasn't been another two guys quite like those two to get sucked up by an enterprising game company to help them guide their shit?

Agree. We need a few more of those to get into the decision making process. Problem there is that then the relic egos get involved and the team itself becomes hard to control and divide as each has their own favorite.

Politics. Holding back video games one day at a time since 1988. If these assholes would just concentrate on making a fun game and using their COLLECTIVE talents while stashing the damn egos at the door, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Zhaun_sl · Nov 21, 2013

I'm looking at that map of Tamriel they have up and thinking about the factions and something occurred to me: I thought that the lizard people lived in the South-South East, between the Elves and the Cats, not in the East/North near the Dark Elves and Nords. Did they move them or am I just mistaken?

edit: Second thing I realize looking at the site: No class information? Really? That seems a bit scary.

popsicledeath · Nov 21, 2013

khalid_sl said:
Over half the posts on this page are Utnayan repeating the same fucking thing in every post. We can't talk about the game at all (whether good or bad) because it gets covered up in his shit constantly. What a joke.

And the other half are posts repeating the same point about Ut's repetitive posts. Your point?

I've seen plenty of discussion on the game, though. It sounds like shit and nothing like an ES game. All they had to do was make Skyrim multi-player with ffa pvp enabled, since it was practically a pvp game anyhow as the entire game was based around ganking, just happened to not support multiplayer. But hard-coded factions and a glorified pvp battleground instance? No fucking thank you. That reeks of incompetence, not just a change in design philosophy.

I think what people are actually mad about is they have no legitimate counter to Ut. If the game didn't suck, or was overall going to fail but had some really strong individual aspects, there would be an argument to be made other than just claiming Ut is on a personal crusade. That's at least how I judge games anymore. If nobody can tell Ut anything but 'shut up, u mad bro?' then I know the game is complete shit and not worth playing. If people start coming up with 'you're right, but what about' and Ut actually discusses the point, even if he still shits on it, then I know a game has at least a few redeeming qualities. This game, though, is nothing but crickets and tumbleweeds when it comes to anyone trying to shut Ut up by discussing the game, which is a red flag that the game really is just that shit.

khalid · Nov 21, 2013

popsicledeath_sl said:
And the other half are posts repeating the same point about Ut's repetitive posts. Your point?
...
I think what people are actually mad about is they have no legitimate counter to Ut

How the fuck can we legitimately answer "Vogel is the devil"? How the fuck can we legitimately answer shit like him saying that the only reason we are being let in the beta are to silence us with NDA?

THAT is the stuff that is shitting up this thread. He isn't even talking about the game with any detail. It is the same shit about developers all being evil and raping his children. You can't have a discussion about that.

Convo · Nov 21, 2013

I think they should charge to test the 17+ content...

Seriously tho. The game does cause for concern even if you take UT out of the equation. Something isn't right.

Zhaun_sl · Nov 21, 2013

Still looking at the site: There are no forums either? C'mon now!

What classes are there?!? Are there statistical differences between the races?! *facepalm*

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

Zhaun_sl said:
I'm looking at that map of Tamriel they have up and thinking about the factions and something occurred to me: I thought that the lizard people lived in the South-South East, between the Elves and the Cats, not in the East/North near the Dark Elves and Nords. Did they move them or am I just mistaken?

edit: Second thing I realize looking at the site: No class information? Really? That seems a bit scary.

Yep. The Argonians live in Black Marsh, Southeast Tamriel. (Supposedly the next elder scrolls will be based on black marsh) which is completely fucked up in this title. 20+ years of lore explained away by a guy who made AD&D modules in 1978.

There is some class information floating out there from leaks, but not much. They are about to be reworked.

No forums. That would allow people to go there and realize this isn't a sequel to skyrim. Plus, community crowd control and controlling bad press at the moment to protect box sales.

Blackwulf · Nov 21, 2013

Utnayan_sl said:
Informed opinions of fucking what? It's a level 1-17 7 passed content hype demo. They better at least have a mediocre time. AOC had a great starter area too. This is the type of shit I am talking about. Informed opinions of a game based on a level 1-7 demo in which you see about 10% of the game which has been worked on for 3 years while the other shit will be mass produced in 5 months?

Fuck man.

I know for a fact that they have higher level content. Probably not polished. I would imagine they'll be expanding the beta level range at a steady pace.

More importantly, people will get to evaluate systems like combat and pvp and graphics and animations. This will allow for some more informed opinions around here.

Can't argue with that, sport.

spronk · Nov 21, 2013

Utnayan_sl said:
The Secret World did fairly well and is still turning a lot of money for Funcom. It's almost better to not have an IP to stay within the boundaries of, as it gives you more creative freedom. Wildstar is something that I have not played yet, but could do what you have said as well.

huh? the secret world did less than 1/2 of Funcom's "worst case predictions", the CEO resigned shortly after, and Funcom announced they would refocus on smaller games after TSW. Let me guess, your secret insider VP source at Funcom claims it was all a conspiracy.
Funcom to Focus on Smaller-Scale Projects After The Secret World Bombs - AusGamers.com

and yeah, it became profitable after restructuring under a new CEO but hardly a smashing success and no one develops an MMO with a plan to fail miserably at the start and change everything later
'The Secret World' is now profitable, committed to 'ambitious post-launch updates' | Polygon

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

Blackwulf_sl said:
I know for a fact that they have higher level content. Probably not polished. I would imagine they'll be expanding the beta level range at a steady pace.

More importantly, people will get to evaluate systems like combat and pvp and graphics and animations. This will allow for some more informed opinions around here.

Can't argue with that, sport.

Like I said, they will see a fresh coat of paint game which everyone finds fun for about 3 hours because it is new. The combat is not fun. The combat is being blasted by the people that actively left the game to work on other projects.Unfortunately, you won't see this at the level 1-17 level set. There aren't enough abilities here to get a feel for it and how those abilities will work in the game. PvP is a shell. Animations and graphics look exactly how they did in SWTOR. With the same UI animation response time based on equalizing GCD and animation with the always inherent lag in between due to the internet.

Either way, some will be entertained because it is a new game. They were also hyped up about after playing through the initial stages of AOC only the see the rest of the game bomb because of being so far behind schedule.

I know for a fact they have higher level content as well. It's called level 17-32 or so. None of the 35+ to 50 is populated/itemized.

None. As of 5 months before launch.

Caliane · Nov 21, 2013

hes not even saying there isn't high level content. just that low level content is often more polished then high level content. And that low level content is often not a good indication of high level content either.

I mean, look at both rift and Gw2. two games which I think are/were great.
The promise of rift events at 1-7 seemed amazing. end game rifts? a joke.
Gw2 the promise of DE chains at 1-7 seemed amazing. orr? lame as hell. we expected long chains, with divergent pathing. What we got was just boring farming.

Utnayan · Nov 21, 2013

/\ Thank God someone gets it.

spronk_sl said:
huh? the secret world did less than 1/2 of Funcom's "worst case predictions", the CEO resigned shortly after, and Funcom announced they would refocus on smaller games after TSW. Let me guess, your secret insider VP source at Funcom claims it was all a conspiracy.
Funcom to Focus on Smaller-Scale Projects After The Secret World Bombs - AusGamers.com

Now try something a bit more recent.

Congratulations, Funcom. - The Secret World Forums

Revenues tripled year over year in the first quarter, due largely to The Secret World. All their MMOs are profitable, and the company is basically profitable on a cash flow basis, and plan on remaining profitable for the foreseeable future.

And I guess all that matters is that they say the game is selling well, players are playing more, and their Cairo issue sold well.

Blackwulf · Nov 21, 2013

Utnayan, you keep listing your opinions. That's great. We get it. Let the rest of us form our own opinions about: combat, crafting, graphics, animation, immersion, quests, exploration, pvp, cyrodiil, etc.

I don't give a shit about the behind the scenes bullshit. Every company has drama. It's the final product I'll be judging, and for a lot of people, this weekend will provide a first glimpse of that.

Convo · Nov 21, 2013

I think the early level access disguise point he's trying to make is solid tho. It pissed me off how unfinished games like AoC were. Im hoping the Nda drops early in open beta with the game fully accessible. That's when I'll decide. They hold Nda till the very end and I won't Even consider this game.

Zhaun_sl · Nov 21, 2013

Yeah, I'm willing to load it up and give it a shot this weekend. See what there is to see and all.

The website inspires zero confidence and little interest though. I've seen betas of Asian F2P's who's websites do more to spark interest in the game than this "Triple A" MMO does. Scary!

a_skeleton_03 · Nov 21, 2013

Blackwulf_sl said:
I know for a fact that they have higher level content. Probably not polished. I would imagine they'll be expanding the beta level range at a steady pace.

More importantly, people will get to evaluate systems like combat and pvp and graphics and animations. This will allow for some more informed opinions around here.

Can't argue with that, sport.

Did you play Kingdoms of Amalur: THE RECKONING?

They had a somewhat polished combat system and a good start to it but halfways through the game all that broke down and was worthless. We all know there is post 17 content. We all know that combat itself from 1-17 is taken care of but what does it look like post 17? Could be an absolute disaster.

Blackwulf · Nov 21, 2013

Their website sucks. Their marketing sucks, and I agree that they better have higher level betas before release.

That said, if they do cyrodiil right, that's all the content I'll need from 10+

Zhaun_sl · Nov 21, 2013

Blackwulf_sl said:
Their website sucks. Their marketing sucks, and I agree that they better have higher level betas before release.

That said, if they do cyrodiil right, that's all the content I'll need from 10+

That seems like a rather narrow view of if the game is good or not.

Lots of variables in an MMO, a lot that can go wrong.

The Elder Scrolls Online

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